The commander of the EUFOR Multinational Battalion (MNBN) ordered the execution of a tactical exercise “Waterfalls” in Bosnia-Herzegovina for the maneuver subunits, including the Hungarian company. The exercise took place between March 26 and 29.
The weather favored the Hungarian troops: at last it was not snowing, only the cool early springtime weather held out. According to the exercise scenario, riots broke out in the village of Bileca, putting allied troops at risk.
On the first day the Austrian reconnaissance platoon deployed in the designated area to enhance the commander’s situational awareness. Due to the increasing tension, the entire battalion set out for the scene on the second day. It took eight hours for the three march columns of the unit to cover the 260 kilometer-distance on public roads.
On day three – in response to the riots, arsons and shootings being acted out by the role-playing soldiers of the Turkish military police contingent – the commander of the battalion ordered the evacuation of the allied troops on duty in the village. During the first phase of the action, the Turkish infantry company of the battalion cordoned off the access roads to prevent the angry crowd from swelling further. In what followed, the Hungarian infantry company was tasked to push out an armed group that was running riot next to the base of the allied troops, to clear the building and evacuate the designated persons.
As the crowd displayed aggressive behavior, the two reserve Austrian infantry companies were also called out to reinforce the Hungarian CRC subunit. By joining forces, the two companies managed to push out the rioters, so the Hungarian team tasked with the evacuation was able to get to the scene in the shortest possible time, where it searched and cleared the building and then evacuated our allies to a safe place.
On day four, having successfully completed the training exercise, the MNBN re-deployed to Sarajevo.
During the operations, the Hungarian infantry company had to handle situations in which some people threw hand-grenades on them or built a barricade in front of them and set it on fire. The members of the company had to give first aid to their own personnel and allied troops who had been wounded in action, and to MEDEVAC them with their own vehicles or helicopters. Of course, all this took place in imitated situations rather than in real life.
Besides their high professional standards, the Hungarian soldiers demonstrated their motivation, and the chain of command of the battalion has passed the test with flying colors again. MNBN commander Lt.-Col. Thomas Holzbauer assessed the exercise as satisfactory, adding that the soldiers managed to generate situations that point in the right direction for the joint training.
(Ministry of Defence)
